A Dubai-based developer named URB has entered the fray of futuristic community planning in the region after publishing plans for XZero City, a pedestrian-friendly, net-zero carbon community it says will eventually grow to accommodate up to 100,000 people.

Billed as a “new paradigm in green urban living,” the car-free city will spread out over a 16-square-kilometer (6-square-mile) swath in the southern Kuwaiti desert connected by a resilient landscape which serves as the “social glue” to self-sustaining homesteaders occupying one of its initial 30,000 modular residences.

By separating the development into different Commercial, Medical, and Educational hubs, URB says it hopes to provide a high quality of life powered by advanced renewable energy technologies, fed by biosaline agricultural produce and vertical farms, and enhanced by an equestrian track, a nature conservation center, and other attractions marketed vaguely as “edutainment.” 

An ecotourism hub will also feature prominently in the master plan and include a 5-star resort and visitor center with further educational offerings. It is connected to the rest of the site through the built-in EV shuttle system and artery-like network of wadis. All this comes shrouded in a green spine that further points to the city’s commitment to health, well-being, and biodiversity. According to the developers, more than 65% of the land area is dedicated to open spaces.

CEO Baharash Bagherian mentioned the development in the context of others that are attempting to answer the same basic set of challenges brought on by growth and the effects of extreme climate. It could be a more viable alternative to more physically improbable megadevelopments like Saudi Arabia's The Line or the floating cities planned for Busan and the Maldives.

This, Bagherian says, is part of an indelible current that is rapidly being redefined by moribund environmental concerns and highly-technological creations. As Bagherian has it, “The creation of sustainable cities that follow the highest standards of living with lowest impact on the environment is no longer a choice, it has become a necessity.”